


The Annual Greenhaven Ball and The Shenanigans Surrounding It

by PlusUltraPhantomThief



Category: Spirit Animals - Various Authors
Genre: Basically stupid teenagers in a fantasy setting, Established Relationship Meilin/Rollan, F/M, I just want him to be alive ok?, Kind of Tsundere Conor, M/M, Pining, Shane's alive too lmao, Swearing, Tarik is alive lmao, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-03-29 12:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19020043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlusUltraPhantomThief/pseuds/PlusUltraPhantomThief
Summary: Apparently a lot of drama is involved with the Annual Greencloak Ball. Oh boy here we go...





	1. Chapter 1

When the trees shed their leaves and snow blanketed the grounds of Greenhaven, it was a sign that the Annual Greenhaven Winter Ball was drawing near. This event was a great diplomacy opportunity for people around the world to put aside their differences and come together. Not only that, but it was one hell of a party. Now that the young heroes of Erdas were 16, they were finally seen as more or less old enough to attend without causing some sort of international conflict.

"Hell yeah!", Conor and Abeke cheered, hugging each other and jumping up and down when Tarik broke the news that they could go in one of the common rooms.

"We're gonna invite so many people!"

"It's gonna be awesome!"

Meilin tried her best to hide the slight grin blooming on her face. Even she had to admit, it was pretty great.  
Now Rollan was a different story. He seemed completely unfazed, giving an indifferent shrug towards Tarik.

"Now now," Tarik chided. "I know you, or at least most of you, guys are excited, but you have to promise to not screw it up. Understand?"

"We promise!" Conor and Abeke beamed up at Tarik, their most innocent faces on display while Meilin responded with a smug "Aren't I always?"

Sighing, Tarik gave them a look that said "Why are you all like this", and left the room muttering "Ok you guys keep doing whatever you were doing."

"Hey Abeke wanna continue our game?" Rollan gestured to the cards sprawled haphazardly across the table.

"Who has time for games right now? We've got invitations to mail!", she replied, rushing out of the room with Conor in tow.

Rollan just grumbled in response. "Who gives a shit about this stupid ball anyway." He rather audibly muttered under his breath.

Raising an eyebrow at Rollan's sour mood, Meilin leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"You doing alright?", she inquired, slightly amused at how red his face had become.

"Y-yeah I'm fine." Rollan stuttered as he regained his composure. "Just kinda pissed that Abeke left our game. I think it was 'cause I was winning..."

"Oh cheer up, you big baby." She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Just think about how much fun you'll have dancing with me at the ball." 

Rollan replied with a loud snort, which was _not_ the reaction she expected.

"What's so funny, Rollan?" Her smile began to falter and her voice had begun to take on a somewhat dangerous tone.

"Don't you think this whole thing's kind of stupid?", Rollan said, clearly unaware of Meilin's concerning change in tone.

"No, I really don't." The murderous intent in her voice was very noticeable now. "Now if you'll excuse me," she snapped, "I'm going to get some training in."

As she stalked off, Rollan was left utterly confused.

"Jeez, was it something I said?", he mumbled. 

**\-----------**

"Hmmm", Conor hummed as he thoughtfully tapped his quill to his mouth. "How about we just invite whoever comes to mind? After all, you can never have too many people at a diplomacy event right?" His face split into a bright grin.

"Makes sense! Let's start yelling all the people we think of right now!" Abeke was very clearly getting into this idea.

"Xanthe!"

"Takoda!"

"Kalani!

"Irtike!"

"Tasha!"

"I hate to say this but, ughh... Kirat.", Abeke groaned.

"I've never met the guy... Is he really _that_ bad?"

"Yes."

"I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention Sha- I mean King." Conor gave Abeke an amused glance as a slack-jawed look of shock appeared on her face.

"I'm sorry Conor, but am I hearing you correctly? Is this actually coming from the same guy who probably wouldn't hesitate to drop kick his ass into next week with no mercy?" Abeke questioned, clearly skeptical.

Conor turned to face Abeke and placed his hands on her shoulders. 

"Listen, I may strongly believe that King is the single worst human being on this planet, and he definitely didn't help this opinion by literally betraying us all, but by the way you talk about him I can tell he's not _as much_ of an asshole as before." , he sighed. "And besides, as long as he makes you, my best friend, happy and doesn't hurt you in any way, I can ignore his general unpleasantness."

Surprised by Conor's words, Abeke was silent for a few seconds and then trapped Conor in a tight hug.

"Conor I really love you, you know that?" 

"Yeah same, but please don't choke me to death right now.", he croaked.

"Ah! Sorry!" Abeke yelped as she unhanded him. 

Conor massaged his neck and continued scribbling away at a piece of parchment he had been working on earlier.

"Oh?" Abeke wondered, curious about what Conor could be doing, and why there were so many discarded sheets of paper lying next to him. "Let me see what you're doing, you sly dog!"

"No! Wait! Stop!", panic covered Conor's face as Abeke caught a glance of his letter.

"Ooooh you're writing to Worthy?" Abeke giggled. 

Conor's face turned completely scarlet and he buried his face in his arms trying to hide it. "Please give it baaaaack!", he wailed in despair.

Abeke's face softened once she noticed Conor's torment.

"Hey, mind if I check over what you've got so far?" She asked quietly. 

Conor peered up at her, his blush still persisting.

"Uh, I guess if you want to...", he mumbled sheepishly. "Though it certainly isn't my first draft and _probably_ won't be the last..."

Abeke picked up his letter and started reading:

_  
Dear Worthy,_

_It's been a while since you visited Greenhaven huh? You Redcloaks holding up okay? What about everyone back in Trunswick? Haha, I guess I have a lot of questions since we haven't talked for a while. Sorry about that... It's been kinda busy this past month. For some reason, we've had a real influx in missions lately. By the way Worthy, have you heard of the Greenhaven Ball? I was just wondering if you were thinking about going. Now don't get the wrong idea, moron. I'm not just asking because I want you to come. In case you haven't noticed (though how could you not have?), Greencloak/Redcloak relations aren't really at their best... So I want you to bring as many Redcloaks as possible to Greenhaven. This event is strictly conflict-free, so this is probably the best opportunity for everyone to get along right? But really, it'd be cool to see you there. Hope you can get back to me soon.  
_

__

Missing you,  
Conor

After reading his letter, Abeke couldn't help bursting with pride. The shepherd boy had come a long way in his reading and writing since they'd first met. His letter was free of spelling and grammar errors. Hell, he even used influx correctly in a sentence! But exceptional vocabulary aside, this letter revealed some new information to Abeke. She had never suspected that Worthy and Conor were this close. The way Conor apologized for not sending him any letters in the past month implied that they talked pretty often. Abeke thought back to how excited he seemed whenever he got mail, and how he would walk around with a secretive smile on his face all day afterward. Abeke couldn't know for sure, but there was something more to how Conor felt about Worthy that he wasn't letting on about. Abeke turned back to him with a secretive smile of her own.

"Looks great!", Abeke said, still grinning rather strangely.

"Are you sure?", Conor asked, visibly concerned. 

"Yep!"

"Then why are you smiling like that? It's really scaring me...."

**\-----------**

Meilin had gotten pretty good at ignoring her problems, but beating the shit out of a punching bag always helped. As she delivered the final devastating blow, the bag toppled over with a loud thump. Meilin glared at the bag as she flopped onto the hard bamboo flooring with a heavy thud, wincing slightly. Usually, training helped her feel at least a little bit better, but for some reason, she was just as pissed off as before. Then again, finding out that your own boyfriend might not want to go to a dance with you can do that to a person. Meilin knew that talking it out with him would probably be the best course of action, but all she really wanted to do was just pretend nothing happened and go by to business as usual. Surely Rollan would come around eventually? Sighing, she got up and hauled the punching bag back to an upright position. Determined to discuss the events of that day as little as possible, Meilin set off to find Rollan. It turned out that this task would be easier than she thought when she nearly crashed into him as she walked out of the training room.

"Woah!", Rollan yelped in surprise.

"Ahh! Watch out!"

As Rollan seemed to realize just who he'd run into a shocked look appeared on his face and he sheepishly looked away.

"Oh, Meilin! Just who I was looking fo-" 

"Hey Rollan let's get something to eat!", Meilin interrupted as she took his hand.

"S-sounds great." His face began to turn crimson.

They set off, making a silent agreement to avoid speaking about their "argument" earlier.

**\-----------**

A few days later, Conor rushed to check his mailbox as he had done every day since he had sent his letter to Worthy. He skidded to a stop in front of the mailbox, panting heavily. As he fumbled for his key and unlocked the small drawer he expected to be disappointed by finding it empty once again. However, his heart filled with joy as he found an envelope encased inside with the words "to Conor, from Worthy" scrawled on it. Conor excitedly tore it open and began reading immediately. 

_  
Dear ~~Sweet cheeks~~ Conor, _

_Took you long enough to write me! But I guess you couldn't go too long without speaking to I, your knight in shining armor. But never fear darling! You'll get to see my beautiful face very soon at the Greenhaven ball! And don't worry, I took your advice. I invited TONS of Redcloaks. Even that weird ass old lady Yumaris! I guess you can just thank me later for singlehandedly saving Redcloak/Greencloak relations with a kiss. I know you're probably rolling your eyes as you read this, but I know you'll fall for my charms soon enough! Also, everyone in Trunswick's doing pretty well. The town seems to be getting after the shitshow that happened years ago. Dawson's actually pretty good leader (he says hi by the way). Your family's also alright. They've got plenty of sheep now (Dawson and I made sure of it after a wolf pack attacked their flock not long ago)-_

Conor quietly sighed in relief after finding out his family was doing well despite the attack.

_Oh! By the way, you won't believe what happened yesterday! I was practicing my tree-climbing skills (because what kind of cat-person isn't good at that?). Well apparently I'm not because I fell off of a big ass tree and expected certain death. But you'll never guess what happened next. I landed on my feet and was completely fine! Just like a cat! Anyway, can't wait to see you at the dance baby!_

_Don't miss me too much!,_

_Worthy_

Conor grinned sheepishly as he finished the letter. Worthy often teased him by jokingly "flirting" with him, but Conor still couldn't help turning red. Perhaps a part of him wanted it to be real? Conor shook his head furiously. There was no **way** he felt anything like that towards Worthy! Right...?

"Hey Conor!", he heard a voice say.

He looked over and saw Rollan and Abeke walking towards him together.

"Why've you got that dopey smile on your face?" Rollan questioned.

Conor quizzically tilted his head. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh, I think I know.", Abeke winked at him.

Rollan paused, clearly confused. "You guys are weird...", he muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rollan and Abeke go on a mission while Conor and Meilin do some training. (I guess you could kinda call this filler)

Sunlight streamed into the Greenhaven dining room as the young Heroes of Erdas were having breakfast. Various voices erupted all throughout the room, many of them filled with sleepiness. Now that Erdas had been healing more and more ever since the Oathbound conflict, civilians had begun to trust the Greencloaks. This meant that the Greencloaks could finally start moving back towards their original purpose of helping the public, which also meant much more work. Even young Greencloaks like the Heroes of Erdas weren't spared from it. In fact, saving the world multiple times made them seem like even _better_ candidates for missions. 2 of the young heroes were assigned to a patrol that day.

"Ughhh. Patrols are always so boringggg!", Rollan groaned, folding his arms behind his head. "Usually nothing even happens so what's the point?"

"Not to mention, _you'll_ be my only company for hours.", Abeke muttered.

"Tsk tsk. I expected you guys to be more enthusiastic about your Greencloak duties." Meilin shook her head.

"Well you try spending all day in some random town looking for invisible outlaws!", Rollan shot back.

Conor was not paying attention to the argument and was instead putting all of his energy into not being coerced by Briggan's pitiable gaze. The wolf glanced at Conor's breakfast, and back to him with an intense cobalt blue stare.

"Come on Briggan...", Conor ruffled the wolf's fur. You're making me feel guilty."

This must have been Briggan's intention because his eyes widened even more and he began to whine softly.

Conor's heart seemed to finally melt at the sight of Briggan's begging and he ended up tossing an entire roll to him.

"You can be really manipulative, you know?" Conor shook his head as he watched Briggan jovially scarf down the roll in mere seconds. "So where are you guys keeping watch anyway?"

"Apparently there's been a string of raids in a town about a couple of hours from here..." Abeke furrowed her brow. "I feel terrible for the citizens. But really, what are the chances that we'll actually find those criminals today?"

"Seeeeee? That's why it's a waste of time!", Rollan whined.

Noticing Rollan's complaining from across the room, Maya sauntered over to their table.

"Hey, were you assigned to patrol in Cirrus Burgh?"

"Ah, that's what it was called! Yeah, Abeke was too. Why do you ask?" Rollan waited to see if Maya had anything important to share.

"I was there just a couple days ago.", the older Greencloak murmured. "We didn't find anything or anyone, but the people there seem really scared for their village... It might not be the most interesting thing to do, but give this mission your all for their sake at least."

Rollan's cheeks colored slightly. He wasn't sure if it was a lecture or not, but he began to feel guilty for not taking it seriously. He wasn't sure exactly how to respond, and instead his mouth kept on opening and closing as if he was some sort of stupid fish.

Fortunately, Abeke had it covered. "We'll do our best. Rollan and I give you our word." she said with a smile.

Maya grinned back, giving Rollan a rather violent noogie. "I know you guys will. No matter how nonchalant you might act, it's always obvious that you really care." 

"Hey Maya! Let's sit over here!" A tall Greencloak shouted all the way from the other side of the dining hall. 

Maya looked over her shoulder and nodded. "Well that's my cue to leave. Good luck you two!"

Meilin flashed an infuriating smirk at Rollan that very clearly said "I told you so."

"Meilin...", Rollan placed his head in his hands wearily. "Whatever you're about to say, I don't wanna hear it."

\----------

"Alright, let's head out." Abeke carefully mounted her horse and looked over at Rollan who was lollygagging behind her. "Rollan you'd better hurry up or I'm leaving you here!"

"Oh yeah? Well being left behind doesn't sound too bad right about now!", Rollan snapped as he struggled to calm his mount. It seemed that his bad luck with horses still persited. "Abeke, I really don't like the way this horse is looking at me. I can see the bloodlust in it's eyes. "

Rollan's suspicion was soon confirmed when the horse responded by swiftly chomping down on his fingers.

"Son of a bitch!", Rollan screamed at the ill-tempered horse. "What was that for, you demented bastard?!"

The journey to the village felt extremely long and uneventful, but was made a little more bearable by Rollan's ridiculous wisecracks. Well, they started out that way but ended up becoming more and more annoying as the trip went on. Right at the moment when Abeke thought that she just might strangle him, she spotted a small town in the distance.

"Hey Rollan, shut up for a second! Do you see that?"

"Huh?" Rollan glanced at the horizon, then at his map, then back to the horizon. "I'm pretty sure that's Cirrus Burgh... We're nearly there!"

A celebratory screech came from Essix who had been following them from the sky.

"Eat my dust Rollan!" Abeke yelled as she sped past him.

"Oh, it's on now!" Rollan chased after her, hot on her heels.

They continued on like this, racing against eachother and laughing until they arrived.

"And I win!" Abeke had a triumphant grin on her face as she passed a shabby sign with the words _Welcome to Cirrus Burgh_ etched onto it.

"Hey no fair! I didn't even know it was a race at the beginning!" Rollan pulled up next to her with some difficulty. "Not to mention I'm the one stuck with a demon horse..."

As they rode into town, the damage caused by the raids was very noticeable. Windows were either shattered or completely boarded up. A few of the houses appeared to have been set on fire at some point in time. Barely any citizens were outside and the ones were seemed very wary.

"Well this is a lovely sight..." Rollan muttered as he surveyed the village. "Hello, would you mind pointing us in the direction of a place where we can tie up our horses?"

The bearded man who Rollan had spoken to narrowed his eyes as he looked them up and down. "Greencloaks are ya? Then, let's see your badges how about it." His voice was gruff and unfriendly. 

Expecting to be asked for identification, Rollan and Abeke whipped out their badges. The badges were used to prove that a person was in fact a Greencloak and not actually some imposter who was in possession of some green fabric and way too much time on their hands. These badges were instated as an extra measure to prevent imposters like the Oathbound from causing worldwide animosity towards the Greencloaks again.

The man nodded over at some rope that was tied onto a fence down the road, but still seemed tense.

"Thanks" Rollan nodded back at him as he and Abeke dismounted their horses and lead them to the fence. He could feel his gaze staying focused on the backs of their heads. Maya sure wasn't kidding when she said these people were restless. Once they finished tying up their horses they both looked, lost.

"Now where exactly do we begin...?" Abeke wondered.

\----------

"Get ready for the hardest workout of your life Conor." Meilin said, dead serious, as she touched her toes. "And remember, I will show no mercy."

Conor gulped, feeling slightly scared as he stretched as well. "So what are we starting with?" His voice quivered slightly.

"Running." Meilin said matter of factly as she took off.

Not wanting to risk her wrath he began to run after Meilin until he caught up and matched her pace. "Hey I think I'm getting faster!", Conor said, a cheery smile on his face.

"See? All the pain and suffering feels worth it once you start improving." Meilin gave Conor a thumbs up as he successfully maintained his pace. 

As she listened to Conor whistle a merry tune while he ran she noticed that he was practically radiating with joy for some strange reason. The guy was usually pretty cheerful, but ever since yesterday morning it seemed like he always had a smile on his face.

"So what's got you so happy?"

Almost immediately, Conor blushed in a way that was anything but inconspicuous. "Oh, n-nothing in particular! Wow! Great weather we're having huh?" He stammered, trying (and failing) to change the subject.

"Oh, you're not getting away that easily." Meilin narrowed her eyes. "Judging from the way you completely freaked out when I asked you, I'm guessing it's _something_."

Conor sighed, knowing that there was no way to avoid telling her. "I uh- got a letter from someone. "

Meilin raised an eyebrow. There'sno way he'd act this secretive if it was just a letter from his family. 

"Hey hey hey! It's not like _that_." Conor paused. Of course it wasn't... Right?

"Well then, who is this special person?"

" _That_ , I'm not telling you."

"Well, fair enough." Meilin slowed to a stop. "If you don't wantti tell me you have evey right not to, so I won't pester you anymore. "

"Really?" Conor plunked onto the grass, panting heavily. Usually if he had a secret he'd constantly be questioned until he gave in or left the room. 

"I mean- I'm curious as hell, but you said you wouldn't tell me and I can't make you can I?". Meilin gave him an understanding smile. "Now you'd better get off your ass in less than 30 seconds. We're sparring next."

At that moment, Conor feared for his life. "What ever you say boss..."

\----------

Pink damsked the sky as afternoon began it's transition to night. Rollan and Abeke had been already been keeping watch for a couple extremely uneventful hours and were beginning to get fed up. After all, there were only so many times you could walk laps around a relatively small town.

"Jeez I can't believe we have to stay here till midnight." Abeke groaned as she stretched her arms out in front of her. "I guess even Uraza and Essix were bored since they wandered off to who knows where a while back..."

"I bet they're causing trouble somewhere." Rollan muttered. "And _we'll_ have to sort it out. Maybe we should find them before they wreak havoc on this poor town."

"Why do that when we have far more interesting things to do, such as watching this paint dry?!" Abeke chuckled sarcastically.

"Yeah yeah. You don't have to be mean about it."

Rollan and Abeke began to search the streets calling for Essix and Uraza.

"Essiiiiix!" Rollan shouted towards the sky. "Can't you just listen to me for once?!"

Perhaps Essix was listening to him because she and Uraza barrelled right out of a small butcher shop in front of them.

"Stop those filthy animals!" The red-faced butcher chased after them, a bloody meat cleaver in hand. 

Abeke noticed that both spirit animals had copious amounts of meat clamped in their mouths. As she saw a slack-jawed Abeke staring at her, she pranced over looking rather proud of herself.

"You little theif!" Abeke quietly hissed.

Rollan quickly attempted to diffuse the situation. "Sir, we apologize for our spirit animals." He began to reach towards his knife in his pocket just in case things got ugly. "We'll fully reimburse you. Just please put the cleaver down!"

"Oh will ya?" The butcher sneered. "Well I hope ya know that those bloody creatures stole about 60 coins worth of food! Just because their Great Beasts doesn't mean they're above the law!"

"Rollan, let's just pay up and not make any more of a scene." Abeke muttered. "Besides, we're the ones at fault here."

As much as Rollan didn't want to admit it, she had a point. There was no point in making the situationany worse than it was already. They both fished out 30 coins each from their bags and dropped them into the butcher's outstretched hand.

Rollan watched the butcher stalk off and glared at Essix. "Thanks a lot you two. We just lost 60 coins because you couldn't control your appetites!"

"Uraza, you'd better stay right by my side until we leave you got that?" Abeke scolded her. This wasn't the first time her hunger had gotten them in trouble.

Uraza gave her an apologetic gaze and rubbed her head under Abeke's hand.

"I forgive you, but I'm still not letting you out of my sight."

\----------

"Oi we're here to take over you're shift." The Greencloak and her partner flashed their badges at Rollan and Abeke to prove it.

"Thanks for getting here on time. Just try not to die of boredom out here." Rollan replied.

These Greencloaks were very punctual and arrived at the town at 12 on the dot (much to Rollan and Abeke's relief). Just as they had expected, nothing interesting occured that night. 

"Well this was an absolute waste of time." Rollan muttered, untying his horse.

Abeke yawned as Uraza vanished into a flash of light and then reappeared as a tattoo on her arm. "Not to mention we lost half of our money..."

"Don't you feel pissed off though?"

"What do you mean?" Abeke looked at him, puzzled.

"I just wish we could have done something to help you know? Imagine how great it would've been if we caught those criminals and those villagers didn't have to live in fear?" Rollan gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Well didn't we though?" Abeke looked at him thoughtfully. "Since Cirrus Burgh is under the protection of the Greencloaks wouldn't raiders be less likely to attack?"

"Yeah, but..." Rollan looked to the sky. "I just wanted to be more helpful."

"Rollan, there are many ways to be helpful." Abeke gave him an encouraging smile. "And they don't always have to involve fighting and confrontation. Sometimes just being there can aid others."

Rollan thought back to all the times that he and his friends had been there for eachother in times of trouble and grinned. "You know Abeke, I think you have a point."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One week before the Greenhaven Ball, guests start arriving, which gives an opportunity for hidden feelings to slowly emerge.

"Three jacks." Abeke said decisively as she placed the cards onto the stack.

"Bullshit!" Conor, who was in possession of two jacks, shouted with glee.

"Dammit..." Abeke muttered, picking up what was nearly an entire deck of cards.

Not willing to make the same mistake as her, Rollan played it safe. "One queen."

Meilin was just about to place her cards down when Tarik quietly opened the into the room.

"All of you might want to come outside." A small smile appeared on his face.

"Well _that's_ not suspicious at all." Rollan muttered, warily watching Tarik as he left.

They silently crept out of Meilin's room (it was always clean) and down the hall, making sure that they didn't wake any sleeping Greencloaks. The chirping of crickets rose behind them as they stepped into the night. When they rounded into the courtyard, they spotted many familiar faces wearily sitting around the statue of Tembo, the first Greencloak.

"What on earth are you guys doing here?!" Meilin cried, a shocked grin on her face.

They were all as surprised as Meilin to see that everyone they invited to the ball had arrived a whole week early. They all came together into a giant, laughing group hug.

"How did you all get here at the same time anyway?" Abeke wondered.

"Well... we'd be lying if we said it wasn't planned..." Xanthe winked at them, clearly proud of their scheme.

As they all separated broke into smaller conversations, Conor noticed Worthy and couldn't help running over to him and wrapping him in a tight hug.

"Woah!" Worthy said, startled by the sudden ambush before hugging him back.

"It's been a while huh?" Conor murmured sheepishly. As he stepped back, he finally had an opportunity to get a good look at Worthy. He tried not to make too much of a show of looking him up and down. As much as he tried to suppress the thought from his mind, all he could think was _"Damn"_ as he saw just how much he had changed. He hated to admit it, but Worthy had gotten pretty hot since the last time they'd seen eachother.

"Your hair's gotten long." Worthy smirked as he playfully tugged on a strand of Conor's hair.

And he was right. Conor's hair was already nearing shoulder length. He blushed profusely and pouted at him. "Well I see you haven't gotten any taller!"

"Woah! That was a low blow..."

"That was the point!"

While Conor was secretly ecstatic to see Worthy again, he couldn't help but notice that Abeke was looking rather crestfallen. As he surveyed all of the people there, he realized that King was nowhere to be found.

"Hey Worthy, how's King doing by the way?" Conor was sure that as a fellow Redcloak he would know of King's whereabouts.

"What? Why would _you_ of all people care?" Worthy was bewildered. It seemed that Conor's disdain for King was no secret.

"Does it matter? Just tell me!"

"Fiiiiiiiiine." Worthy rolled his eyes. "King's been on some sort of mission in Stetriol for the past month. I don't know jack shit about what it is or when he's getting back. He's been really secretive about it."

"Ah... I see." Conor said solemnly. His heart ached for Abeke. He knew that she'd be disappointed by the news. Ever since she'd sent an invitation to King she was secretly worrying about whether or not he would actually come.

Worthy cautiously placed his hand on Conor's shoulder as if he was unsure of whether or not he should. "You're worried about how Abeke feels right?" He looked up at Conor with his tender, golden eyes. "I promise the both of you that I'll do whatever I can to find out what's going on.

"Thanks Worthy." Conor flashed him a wide toothy grin. "I really appreciate it."

"Uh... Yeah, it's no problem..." Worthy looked away.

Was it just his imagination or did Conor catch a blush blooming on Worthy's face?

"Hey Worthy can I borrow Conor for a moment?" Abeke didn't wait for an answer before dragging Conor off and leaving Worthy rather confused.

Conor sighed, thinking he knew what it was about. "Abeke, if you want to talk about King that's always fine with me-"

"What? No!" Abeke waved Conor's concern off. "I wanted to talk to you about all the _obvious_ sexual tension between you and Worthy."

"Huh?!" Conor yelped completely flustered. He looked around and brought his voice down to a whisper. "Abeke, shut the fuck up. There's absolutely **nothing** going on between us."

"Riiiiiiiight" Abeke patted him on the head. "Don't worry sweetie I understand. "

"HUH?!"

"Alright everybody I know you're excited to be here but you'd best be getting to bed." Tarik yelled in an authoritative voice. "You all know where your rooms are right?"

Everybody grumbled and groaned as they were forced to go to bed, but no one dared to go against his orders. After all, Tarik was looking rather annoyed and disheveled as if he had been woken up in the middle of his rest.

As they walked together chatting about things that had happened recently, Conor noticed that Worthy wasn't wearing his mask and instead had it hanging around his neck. Seeing this reminded him of a conversation they had the last time Conor visited Trunswick.

_"Oi Worthy! You alright over there?" Conor gave Worthy a concerned frown when he noticed him sitting alone on a tree stump, staring into space."_

_Startled, Worthy's face darted upwards. "Oh, it's nothing... I'm doing great!" He gave Conor and unconvincing smile and a thumbs up._

_"Yeah.... no you aren't" Conor nudged Worthy aside so that he could sit next to him. "C'mon Worthy, tell me what's wrong."_

_"Well uh...." Worthy said cautiously. "Sometimes I really just hate the way I look. I know I brought it upon my self by drinking the bile for my own selfish wants, and it's a constant reminder I guess. Besides, everywhere I go people keep their distance from me. Probably think I'm some sort of unnatural freak..." Worthy turned away, his expression unreadable underneath his mask._

_Conor shot up, his face flushed with anger. "Worthy, you idiot!"_

_"Huh?"_

_"You may have done bad things in the past, but so what?! You've more than made up for it!" Conor furiosly flailed his fists in the air. "And besides! Who cares about those assholes who judge you without even talking to you? I think that you look super badass!"_

_"R-Really?" Worthy removed his mask, revealing just how red his face was._

_"Of course!"_

Whenever Conor thought of that day, he felt slightly guilty about losing his temper like that, but he noticed that Worthy had worn his mask less and less since then. 

Worthy seemed to notice Conor staring at him and smirked. "Can't get enough of my beautiful face huh?"

"Shut up Worthy." Conor quickly looked away.

"Enough flirting you two!" Abeke whispered to Conor, snickering.

Conor glared at her with murderous intent. "You can be such a jerk sometimes!"

"I harass you because I care."

Conor scoffed as they went their separate ways. "Riiiiiiiight. Good night Abeke"

He was almost right in front of his room and noticed that Worthy was still walking next to him.

"You following me or something?" Conor turned towards Worthy, raising an eyebrow.

Worthy snorted out loud. "You wish! I'm going to my own room."

When they arrived at Conor's room Worthy gestured to the room right next to it. "Here it is! Wait- no way. Don't tell me our rooms are right next to eachother."

"Apparently..." Was this some sort of huge joke? The same guy that drove Conor completely insane was rooming right next to him.

"Why're looking so worried? I don't snore _that_ loud..." Worthy let out a jaw-cracking yawn. "Well, good night Conor." He waved, disappearing into his room.

"Good night...." Conor mumbled, just a second too late.

Conor wearily pushed his door open. Sighing, he pulled his shirt off and threw himself onto his bed. There was no denying it. He felt _something_ towards Worthy. But he didn't know what it was. Annoyance? Friendship? Attraction? What he _did_ know was that whenever he thought of Worthy's cat-like face and golden eyes he got a funny feeling in his stomach. Like... butterflies. He'd spent a very long denying the possibility that he just may like Worthy, but what else could it mean?

"Oh fuck." Conor whispered under his breath, burying his face into a pillow. "I like Worthy."

Well this _definitely_ complicated things.

\------------

As Abeke lay in bed, she stared at the ceiling of her room. She had been trying to avoid all of the thoughts and disappointment swirling around her head. Yet, she couldn't help but think of Shane and how much she missed him. And when she finally had an oppurtunity to see him, it was snatched away. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she squandered them, refusing to cry. If she started, she wasn't sure when she would stop. Abeke closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but couldn't prevent a single tear from running down her cheek. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conor has a nightmare, and tensions rise between Meilin and Rollan.

Worthy didn't expect to be awoken by a terrified wail coming from the room next to him. Confused by this sudden disruption in his sleep he groggily sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. Then in an instant, he remembered just who resided in the other room.

**_Conor_ **

Instantly, Worthy leaped out of bed, threw the door open, and raced down the hall to Conor's room.

"Conor! Are you okay in there?!" He yelled, frantically pounding on his door.

Worthy breathed a sigh of relief when he heard presumably Conor's footsteps coming towards the door, but that feeling was completely replaced with worry when Conor opened the door.

He was greeted by a sniffling, shaken up Conor staring at him in shock with his blue, tear-filled eyes.

"O-oh Worthy." Conor said in a choked up voice as he wiped his eyes. "It's so late... Why on earth are you up?"

"Well, it was kind of hard to ignore the bloodcurdling scream that came from your room."

Conor blushed, and turned his eyes down to his feet. "Ah, I'm sorry for waking you up..." He mumbled.

"What- no! That's not it at all!" Worthy protested. "I just- Are you okay Conor?"

"Y-yeah, or at least I think so. I had a really bad dream." He seemed to cringe just at the memory of it. "But it was a _dream_ dream. You know?

Worthy noticed that Conor had been shaking slightly. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty bad.

"Did you want to... Talk about it? He asked, unsure if it was the right thing to do.

Sighing, Conor ruffled his hair in deep thought. "I don't think it'd be a whole lot of fun remembering that, but it's probably a good idea to get it off my chest."

"Then come on and we can chat in my room. It'll be like a slumber party!" "Worthy cried with mock elation.

Smirking, Conor shook his head. "You really are an idiot, you know that?"

\-------------

Worthy didn't expect to be sitting with Conor on his bed in the middle of the night trying his best to not let his gaze drift to Conor's bare chest. (What can you say? You could tell the guy worked out.)

"I'm warning you, it's pretty weird." Conor ruffled his disheveled hair once more. "Then again, my prophetic dreams usually tend to be..."

Worthy gave him and intense stare. "That's fine, but I'm more worried about just what this dream is predicting."

"Oh, it's probably nothing serious... Sometimes my dreams involve very uh- _interesting_ symbolism. Once I had a prophetic dream of a horrifying torture chamber that was predicting the dentist appointment I had the next day." Conor gave a weak chuckle, but stopped when he noticed the appalled look that Worthy gave him.

"Conor, that sounds _horrible_. I- I'm so sorry that you have to deal with shit like this." Worthy gritted his teeth and looked away.

Conor looked at him with an understanding gaze. "Don't worry. I deal with it. As Briggan's summoner this is one of the burdens I have to carry for Erdas and I accept that." A solemn determination that Worthy hadn't often seen appeared on his usually bright, smiling face. "Besides, I only have super creepy dreams like this once in a while. Now do you want to hear about it or not?"

"Why do you think we're sitting here in the first place? Now hurry up!" He scoffed.

"Alright." He cleared his throat. "So in my dream, I began by walking down a path completely covered in a thick, pink fog... I can't see but a step or two ahead of me. Then after I walked along this path for a little bit, I... fell into something."

"Fell into what?" Worthy's eyes widened with curiosity.

"Don't interrupt! I was getting to that! I fell into something really weird.... It was like, pink and sticky and smelled sickly sweet. Similiar to... candy floss, or taffy. But then, I quickly began to sink. Then the sinking gave way to drowning." Conor paused again almost as if he was expecting Worthy to interrupt again, but he remained silent. "Now, in case you didn't know drowning is one of my greatest fears so I was pretty terrified. And it definitely didn't help that this freaky, dissonance-filled waltz kept playing in my head over and over. Louder and louder. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. _1, 2, 3!_ I think the worst part was just how _real_ it all seemed."

"That sounds... Absolutely awful..." Worthy muttered.

"After what felt like forever, I think I saw a hand break throught the weird pink stuff that seemed like it was reaching out to save me. I tried to reach out and grab it, but like in true dream fashion that was when I woke up." Conor massaged his forehead as if just retelling this dream was giving him a headache. "I guess since I was screaming the whole time in the dream, when I woke up I guess I just didn't stop. So yeah. Sorry about that."

"That's a pretty messed up dream, but are you feeling any better now?" Worthy questioned.

"Y'know what Worthy? Believe it or not I actually am!" Conor reached over and playfully patted Worthy's head. "You're a pretty good listener so... Thanks for that."

Worthy shook his hand off of him as a slight blush bloomed on his face. "Hey! Don't mess with my hair."

"Yeah yeah..." Conor's aloof glance suddenly turned into one of mortification. "Aghhhhhhhh!!! I just remembered- I can't believe I was actually _crying_ in front of you! This is so embarrassiiiiiiing!" He groaned, falling backwards onto Worthy's bed.

Worthy gave him a quizzical look. "It's really not that big of a deal Conor. You don't need to act like you're too tough for emotions." He leaned closer as he reassured him.

As Conor's head emerged from the bed covers, he seemed surprised by just how close his face was from Worthy's. Somehow, he began to blush even harder than before. His mouth was slightly agape as he gazed sheepishly at Worthy.

Suddenly, he cleared his throat "Well, I'd better get to bed." quickly getting up and opening the door. "Goodnight Worthy."

"Good... Night...?" Worthy answered completely bewildered when Conor had left the room. Why was _he_ so huffy all of a sudden? I guess he probably couldn't stand the idea of a remotely serious conversation with _me_." He muttered indignantly.

––––––––

Conor slammed the door behind him breathing heavily. As he sank to the ground he buried his face in his hands. Concerned, Briggan trotted up to Conor and licked his face.

He couldn't help but laugh at Briggan's worried face. "Hey boy, don't worry. Everything's okay!"

But was it really? Everything was going fine, but when Worthy's face was almost a hair's breadth away from him, he just panicked. He just had to get out of there or he felt that his heart just might explode. Conor was no stranger to crushes. The fluttering feeling that appeared in his heart when he was around a certain person was so familiar that he could recognize it almost immediately. Yet none of them had ever appeared so strongly and suddenly, like a raging, uncontrollable fire. Despite the flames burning inside of him, Conor felt like he truly was drowning.

––––––––

Rollan shook his head as it emerged from the basin that he used to wash his face. He eyed himself in the mirror as he perfected his "just got out of bed and I still look stylish" hairstyle

Looking good.

He began to pull his toothbrush back and forth over his pearly whites while contemplating what he should have for breakfast. Oatmeal perhaps? His food-filled thoughts were interrupted by Takoda and Kirat's arguing as they placed themselves in front of the mirrors as well, towels around their waists.

"What? No way! That's so lame!" Kirat guffawed at Takoda.

"I'm telling you, roses and a heartfelt invitation never fail! She'll love it." Takoda responded matter-of-factly as he pulled his recently much longer hair into a "monk-bun".

"'Mornin' gentlemen." Rollan greeted them, suddenly curious. "What's all the fuss about?"

Before Kirat could even open his mouth to protest Takoda immediately blurted, "Kirat wants to ask Tasha out but his plan is absolutely horrible and would probably make her hate him forever." without even taking a breath.

Rollan tried to hold back, but couldn't help bursting out laughing. " _You_ want to go out with _Tasha?_ But Tasha's so nice! And you're so-" Rollan paused to gesture at him "You"

"You're one to talk, asshole!" Kirat glared indignantly. "But don't you think that's boring? That's such a basic way to ask someone out! I think i should just wait right until the last minute and say 'Hey. You and me girl, let's make it happen'" He said, making his best attempt to sound seductive, which wasn't working.

"Dude, that's a _horrible_ plan. It just makes you look like you couldn't care less about her. Take it from me. Someone with an actual _girlfriend_. It doesn't hurt to, you know, actually be a decent person." Takoda muttered, rolling his eyes. "By the way Rollan, do you know what's up with Conor?"

Rollan turned to the boys, confused by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Oh you haven't seen him? The dude totally looks like a zombie." Kirat snorted.

"Maybe you should go check on him. He was in the baths when we last saw him." Takoda suggested as he and Kirat left the bathroom.

Somewhat worried, Rollan opened the doors to the baths. Instantly steam assaulted his senses, making it difficult to see just exactly where he was going until he finally saw a familiar fluffy gray tail peeking out from one of the stalls. As he got closer he spotted Briggan worriedly prancing in place in front of Conor. He was sitting in a bath basin with his knees pulled up to his chest, a glazed over expression on his face.

"Heeeeeey buddy." Rollan said, unsure of exactly how to approach him.

Conor only grunted in response.

Rollan tapped him multiple times to no avail. Finally, he left for a few moments with Briggan bounding at his heels and returned holding a basin full of water which he proceeded to dump on Conor's head.

Instantly, Conor jerked forwards, suddenly far more alert "I'M AWAKE! I'm awake! Holy shit..." he cried. He wiped copious amounts of water from his eyes and turned to glare at Rollan. "Well what the bloody hell was that for?"

"Sorry man, but you were really out of it. I was getting worried." Conor's face softened at Rollan's genuine concern. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, i guess. I just had a nightmare last night so i didn't get much sleep. Guess you could say I'm feing a little groggy..."

A little groggy was an understatement. Conor had several bags and gray spots under his eyes. He looked terrible. Bad dreams weren't uncommon for Conor, but they'd never affected him this much. There was definitely something else going on.

"You _sure_ that's all?" He tried to read Conor's expression, but couldn't get anything out of him.

Conor sighed. "What do you want me to say Rollan?"

"Nothing! Nothing. It's just that if something else _was_ going on you'd tell us right?"

"Yes Rollan. If something was going on, which there _isn't_ , I'd tell you guys." Conor gave him a reassuring grin. "Now could you please get out? I'm taking a bath..."

"Yeah yeah. I'll leave you to it." Rollan got up to leave smiling back.

Conor was obviously lying.

However, Rollan decided to leave it for now. Yet he couldn't help but feel somewhat hurt that he would hide something from them. Then again, Conor had always been a trustworthy friend. He must have had a reason...

––––––––

"So Xanthe, how's it been with you and Takoda lately?" Abeke looked up from her food, grinning devilishly.

Suddenly a dreamy expression crossed Xanthe's face as she began to swoon. "Oh, "Koda's just so great! Honestly sometimes it seems like he's the perfect boyfriend." She sighed, resting her head in her hands.

Meilin turned towards her, skeptical. "Hmmm, that's good. Especially since the last time we saw you guys it seemed as you were having a breakup every other day."

Xanthe's head shot up, her face bright red. "We've worked things out ok?!"

"Calm down Xanthe. They're just pulling your chain." Tasha said, patting her shoulder.

"You're just just jealous of me and Koda because of our beautiful relationship!" she pouted, childishly sticking out her tongue.

As if on cue, Takoda, Rollan, Worthy and Kirat appeared, each of them holding a tray of food.

"You guys talking about me?" Takoda eyed them suspiciously, taking a seat next to Xanthe.

Xanthe gave him a kiss on the cheek. "All good things, babe."

As Meilin looked around she could see that a certain person was missing.

"Where's Conor?" Meilin and Worthy asked at the same time. She gave him an odd look as he reddened slightly.

"Ah, I think he's having a bit crisis..." Rollan muttered.

"Huh?" Worthy stood up from his. "What's wrong with him?"

"No idea man..." Rollan shrugged.

"I hope he's okay- Oh, there he is!" Worthy waved at Conor who was approaching their table.

As Conor sat down, Meilin could see copious bags under his eyes.

"Wow, you look terrible!" Abeke gasped.

"Gee, thanks." He said in a deadpan voice and took a long gulp of whatever liquid was contained in his mug.

"Is that _coffee?_ " Worthy questioned

"Possibly...?" Conor glanced sheepishly into his mug.

"Don't get on his case. He clearly needs it." Meilin gave him a once-over.

Meilin pulled out a stack of papers containing their duties for the day.

"So I took the liberty of getting everybody's assignments, you're all welcome by the way, and today's pretty jam-packed-"

"Hold up! You're saying that we,  _guests_ of Greenhaven, have to go on missions and stuff?!" Kirat interrupted Meilin.

Meilin glared at him. "Well, I don't see why not." she scoffed. "You're all very capable individuals that Greenhaven see as an advantage on our side. Besides, many of you are  _actual_ Greencloaks so it  _is_ your duty."

Kirat groaned and slumped back into his chair.

"Wow, even around the time of the ball, Greencloaks don't take breaks..." Xanthe murmured. "That's pretty impressive."

"Goes to show you not everyone cares about a stupid dance." Rollan muttered in a low voice, yet still loud enough for Meilin to hear.

Thinking that it was another one of Rollan's snarky jokes and smirked at him. "Oh really? Then why are you going with me?" 

Rollan abashedly turned away, not wanting to meet her gaze.

"You  _are_ going with me right?" The tension became apparent as Meilin's expression became more and more dangerous.

Rollan stayed silent, pretty much answering Meilin question.

Meilin immediately shot up out of her seat. She grabbed a sheet of paper from the stack, crumpled it up, and violently hurled it into Rollan's oatmeal. "Here are  _your_  assignments, you insensitive asshat." she spat.

"Meilin, wait-!" Rollan started too late.

She immediately stalked off, leaving the whole table staring right at Rollan's shocked face. He gingerly retrieved his soggy assignments from his oatmeal and unfolded them.

"Ah." he muttered sullenly. "Seems about right I'd get dance set-up duty." 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this! I hope I can keep up with this better than I do with anything else... Then again, it's summer so I have no excuse y'know? I'll try my best！  
> (ﾉ≧▽≦)ﾉ


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